Various types of cleaning members capable of trapping dust, trash, etc., are conventionally known, and methods for producing the various types have been examined from a variety of viewpoints.
For example, Patent Literature 1 proposes a method of producing a cleaning member comprising the steps of:
stacking a belt-shaped inner fibrous layer consisting of continuous fiber bundles and a belt-shaped sheet member, both being partially joined to form a first continuous body, followed by the formation of a second continuous body in a similar manner, and, after the first and the second continuous bodies are stacked and partially fixed, stacking and fixing a belt-shaped outer fibrous layer consisting of continuous fiber bundles on each of the inner fibrous layer side of the first and the second continuous bodies;
cutting the laminate obtained in the preceding step into a predetermined length; and
applying a compressed air to the fibrous layer part of the cut laminate to open the fiber bundles;
wherein the belt-shaped inner fibrous layer and outer fibrous layer are each composed of fiber bundles consisting of curled fibers bent in a zig-zag form, a vertical height between the alternating peaks and troughs of the above curled fiber is 0.1 to 0.7 mm, and, during the step of opening the above fiber bundles, the fiber bundles in the cut laminate are teased so that the entire periphery of the cleaning member is covered with brush tips consisting of the fiber of the fiber bundles.
Also, Patent Literature 2, for example, proposes a method of producing a cleaning member, wherein
a first continuous body having a first fibrous layer consisting of continuous fiber bundles and a first belt-shaped member, in which both longitudinal ends of the first belt-shaped member are folded to be stacked and fixed, and the first fibrous layer is stacked on and fixed to the outer face side of the first belt-shaped member, and a second continuous body having a second fibrous layer consisting of continuous fiber bundles and a second belt-shaped member, in which both longitudinal ends of the second belt-shaped member are folded to be stacked and fixed, and the second fibrous layer is stacked and fixed onto the outer face side of the second belt-shaped member, are produced, and after the first continuous body and the second continuous body thus produced are stacked and joined to each other, a third fibrous layer and a fourth fibrous layer, each consisting of continuous fibrous bundles, are stacked on the first fibrous layer and the second fibrous layer, respectively, and fixed to form a laminate, then the laminate thus formed is cut to obtain individual cleaning members,
characterized in that the method comprises the steps of:
intermittently forming broken guide lines spanning the entire lateral area of each of the first belt-shaped member and the second belt-shaped member in the first belt-shaped member and the second belt-shaped member so that a central part sandwiched by a pair of broken guide lines and an external part provided consecutively in the central part via the broken guide lines are formed in each of the first belt-shaped member and the second belt-shaped member, respectively;
joining the first belt-shaped member and the second belt-shaped member, after forming the broken guide lines, to the first fibrous layer and the second fibrous layer with a central continuous seal line spanning the entire lateral area of each of the first fibrous layer and the second fibrous layer to produce the first continuous body and the second continuous body;
stacking the first continuous body and the second continuous body to join them with side noncontinuous seals spanning the entire lateral area of the first fibrous layer and the second fibrous layer;
further stacking and fixing a third fibrous layer and a fourth fibrous layer onto the first fibrous layer of the first continuous body and the second fibrous layer of the second continuous body to form the laminate;
excising the external part flanking the central part, leaving the central part sandwiched by the pair of broken guide lines, from each of the cut first belt-shaped member and the cut second belt-shaped member, after cutting the laminate; and
opening the cut first through fourth fibrous layers, so as to tease them randomly in three-dimensional directions, after cutting the laminate.
Furthermore, Patent Literature 3, for example, proposes a method of producing a cleaning member comprising the steps of:
laminating a continuous body comprising a four-layered long fibrous layer in which fiber bundles are oriented in one direction, a continuous body comprising two long scraping sheets, and a continuous body comprising two long base sheet in the order of the continuous body comprising the fibrous layer, the continuous body comprising the scraping sheets, the continuous body comprising the fibrous layer, the continuous body comprising the two base sheets, the continuous body comprising the fibrous layer, the continuous body comprising the scraping sheets, and the continuous body comprising the fibrous layer,
joining the continuous bodies with one another at a predetermined distance in the lateral direction to prepare a cleaning member continuous body, and then
cutting, in the lateral direction, the cleaning member continuous body at the junctions between the continuous body of the fibrous layer and the continuous body of the base sheet and the continuous body of the scraping sheet to obtain a plurality of the cleaning member.